Every day it seems like there are new influencers and gurus popping up out of nowhere.

Most of them promise the same things…

Freedom, money, power, love, influence.

A one-way ticket to the “good life”.

Some of them are able to deliver on their promises and authentically share invaluable insights and lessons that help average people achieve above-average results.

But many of them, in fact, I would argue most of them, make vacuous promises that they cannot keep. They exaggerate their success and lifestyles to trick people out of their hard-earned money.

So where does Dan Pena, one of the newest “gurus” on the block, fall on this spectrum?

Keep reading to find out if he really does help men grow stronger.

*Note: I am not affiliated with Dan Peña in any way and receive no financial compensation for this content. What follows is my honest opinion after interviewing and researching him further.

Who is Dan Pena?

Dan Peña is a motivational speaker, entrepreneur, and business consultant who began his business journey from the bottom.

As a young man, he founded the company Great Western Resources and turned a $1,000 investment into more than $430,000,000, taking his company public in 1984, and acting as the Chairman and CEO until the early ’90s when he was kicked out of the company.

However, in the aftermath of his departure, Dan successfully sued GWR for a sum of nearly $4,000,000 and used those funds as seed capital for his ensuing business ventures.

Dan has started, sold, and consulted businesses in dozens of different industries from coal, oil, and natural gas to publishing to his most recent endeavor, seminars and business training.

Dan has written multiple books, appeared on stages all across the world, and was even interviewed on the Joe Rogan Podcast.

The Missing Business Records: Is Dan Pena a Scam?

One of the most common points brought up by Dan’s opponents (people who believe he’s a scammer or con artist) is that there are no records of Dan’s alleged successes anywhere on the internet.

At first, I was inclined to agree. Despite numerous hours spent browsing Google, Reddit, and Quora, I was unable to find any concrete evidence that Dan had actually achieved the things he claims to have achieved.

However, upon further consideration, this actually makes sense.

Most of Dan Pena’s personal successes were achieved in a pre-internet era and there are indeed old newspaper snippings and interviews that confirm him as the Founder and CEO of GWR and many other companies.

Furthermore, it’s worth noting that, unlike a Ferrari or Lamborghini which can easily be rented by anyone with $1,500 and a valid driver’s license, Dan Pena’s extravagant lifestyle and abundant wealth are all but impossible to fake.

Dan Penas castle, private jets, and a fleet of luxury vehicles all serve as a testament to his credibility and the fact that he’s been featured on The Joe Rogan Experience, The Cardone Zone, and countless other big-name media outlets suggests that he is, for all intents and purposes, a legitimate businessman.

Furthermore, after speaking with several of Dan’s most successful Quantum Leap Advantage graduates (a one-week event that costs more than $25,000), I’ve noticed that none of his students seem to harbor any ill will towards their mentor. I have yet to find a graduate who claims that Dan Pena is fraudulent or that the information taught at his seminar is anything legitimate.

But what about his claim to be the “$50 Billion Man”? Is Dan Pena’s net worth really so extreme?

First, it’s important to note that Dan has never claimed to have a personal net worth of $50 billion. Rather, his claim is that he has generated $50 billion in total market value through his mentees, consulting clients, and equity deals.

Unfortunately for Mr. Pena, there is no way to verify this number and it seems (after listening to his other interviews) that the title is nothing more than a marketing ploy designed to attract attention and establish credibility.

And I’ll be the first to say it, he needs to cut the b.s. and provide proof of his claims. This marketing tactic does nothing but denigrates his actual achievements and credibility and, at this point, he’s already established himself as an industry leader and has no need to rely on such immature “shock and awe” marketing.

My Interview with Dan Pena and the Lessons I Learned

After completing my research and concluding that–despite his hyperbolic claims and irreverent style–Dan Pena is the real deal, I sent his publicist an email and asked if he would be willing to be interviewed on the Knowledge for Men podcast. He kindly agreed and I was pleasantly surprised by the value of his interview and his no-nonsense style.

Here are just a few of the most important lessons I learned from my interview with Dan Pena.

1. Stop Thinking and DO

One of the most powerful lessons that Dan shared during our interview was also one of the simplest.

Most people spend too much time thinking and second-guessing and not enough time doing.

We live in an age of abundant information. With the click of a button, one can download the ideas and thoughts of millions of individuals straight to their computer. Any issue you face can be solved by a quick Google search, and any history test can be aced with a glance at Wikipedia.

However, this information has come at a cost.

Now more than ever, individuals are in states of permanent planning, the gung-ho, ready, fire, aim mentality of past generations has vanished, replaced instead by an attitude of sparse action taken only after extensive research. We constantly search for the perfect solution, refusing to take action until we are certain that we are following the right course of action.

But the simple truth is that you will never have all of the information. There is no perfect solution and true certainty is the domain of the foolish and narcissistic.

To achieve success, we must realize that experience is the best teacher of all, we must feel the fear of failure and take action anyways. No more sitting and waiting to have all the information, to have the perfect plan laid out.

Identify your goal and take action now. Start small. Fail forward fast. And commit to constant growth and evolution as you learn and adapt to new challenges.

The future belongs to the action takers. Be one of them.

2. Your Friends Determine Your Future

“Show me your friends and I will show you your future.” The words of John Kubleur ring true now more than ever, you cannot be a high achiever while associating with low performers. It is key that you seek out high-quality relationships to fill your life with people who will push you, convict you, and challenge you to rise above mediocrity.

If you cannot find people in your area, then, as Charlie Munger put it, “make friends with the eminent dead.” Read classic works, fill your brain with the words of the wisest individuals past and present, because who you associate with will be the key to your future.

There is no force on planet earth that will impact your life as much as the people you choose to associate with.

If you spend time with high-quality people who are on their own mission and pursuing their own ambitions, you will be encouraged to do the same.

If you spend time with low-quality people who waste their days glued to a screen, watching an endless stream of porn, and numbing their lives with drugs and alcohol, they will pull you down to their level–like crabs in a bucket–and keep you there as long as they can.

3. Schooling and Money Aren’t Essential For Success

The lack of a college degree is no excuse for poor performance. Some of the greatest businessmen and talents of our time deferred college in favor of pursuing their goals. You must realize that the keys to success are never external, but internal.

You can have every damn degree and accolade in the world, but without passion, without fire for what you are doing, you will never be a success. It is far better to be a high-school dropout willing to work 20 hour days to accomplish his dreams, than a Harvard graduate dreading every task before him.

This is not to say that you shouldn’t go to college, rather that you must stop relying on your degrees and higher education to help you achieve the success you desire.

You have inside of you everything you need to succeed.

You have the hunger, ambition, and resourcefulness required to bridge the gap between where you are today and where you want to be. But it’s up to you to use them.

4. Mentors Are the Most Essential Part of Achieving Success

Mentors are the force multiplier on your path to success, they can direct you to where you want to go, and help you avoid the missteps that are so commonly made. When searching for a mentor, you must realize that it is their time, not their money that is the most valuable asset they have to offer.

You must also realize that you bring very little to the table for high caliber mentors that they do not already have, so you must make up for this lack of financial and business resources with a burning passion to succeed.

Something most people fail to realize is that most successful people want other people to be successful too. They believe that life is a journey, not a competition. And when they find someone who is young, hungry, and willing to take action on their advice, they are more than happy to mentor and coach them to the next level.

If you don’t have a mentor, find one.

Find someone who is living the life you want to live and listen to every word they say. This simple action could mean the difference between a life of mediocrity and a life of unparalleled success.

5. Focus on Your Passions and Forget the Rest

All the money in the world isn’t worth a damn if you are forced to do things you hate to earn it. If you truly want to be a success in life, you must heed the old cliche and follow your passions. Find something that excites you so that you tap dance to work in the morning.

Find something you are so pumped for that you don’t need an alarm to get up, because you couldn’t even sleep knowing that there were missing out on time that you could have been pouring into your life’s dreams.

Do work that fills you up, that makes you feel alive, that sets your soul on fire and gives you meaning in a world so devoid of it.

6. When You Fail: Pivot, Don’t Quit

During our interview, Dan was open about his many business failures. Like every great entrepreneur, he experienced just as many (if not more) failures and setbacks than he did successes. And your journey will be no different.

Many times over the course of your journey, you will fail. That is a simple fact of the game.

Marketing campaigns won’t work, products won’t sell, businesses will tank, relationships will end, passions will burn out and you will find yourself time and time again faced with gut-wrenching failures that make you question your very worth as a man.

In the words of Kurt Vonnegut, “So it goes.”

There’s nothing you can do to rewind and fix a failure, all you can do is learn from the mistake and pivot before your next move.

When something you have invested heavily in fails, don’t waste precious resources trying to salvage a lost cause and don’t quit unnecessarily. Simply pivot. Tweak your business plan, your product, or your approach until you are able to achieve the success you’ve been working towards.

7. Focus on the Few Not the Many.

With the excess of information and opportunities nowadays, it is quite easy to get sucked into the trap of multi-focus.

It’s easy to try every new tactic and strategy you see (from Facebook ads to YouTube videos to Instagram marketing) .But if you want to succeed, you must have single-focus on one important strategy or idea at a time.

Identify the one thing that, if accomplished, would create disproportionate results in your life and business.

And invest all of your energy into making it happen.

Focus on the 20% of tasks, that will get you the 80% of results and leave the rest to the dogs.

The Verdict: Is Dan Pena a Legitimate Business Man or Masterful Con Artist

After concluding my interview and research, I believe that Dan Pena is a legitimate businessman with a lot of value to offer ambitious young men looking to make their way in the world.

I don’t always agree with his brash and often bully-esque style and I don’t buy his $50 billion title.

But I do believe that Dan has walked the walk. He can help you achieve your goals and give you the guidance you need to rise to the top.

He might call you some nasty names while he does it and he might share a few bullshit stories to shock you into attention but at the end of the day, much like Tai Lopez, I believe Dan Pena is who he says he is and is worth your time (even if you have to take some of his claims with a grain of salt).

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